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Top 5 Fitness apps to get you motivated

Everyday I walk to my car and as I start the engine and look up at my windscreen my bike is looking back at me, mocking me. With the New Year being a mere four days away, now is the time we start being optimistic and say to ourselves (with unrelenting confidence ) that this year we'll get back on that bike. Time, is usually the excuse we then tell ourselves after not touching the bike for the next 365 days. So much so, it grows cobwebs. Welcome to the Digital Age, where a lack of time is no excuse and technology is specifically designed to help you reach your fitness and nutrition goals. By Tiana Battaglia.

Bike or no bike, there is now a world of fitness motivation available in the palm of your hand. Quite literally. We’ve reviewed the top 5 best apps to inspire you to abolish those saggy tuck shop arms, just in time for your wedding day.

SworkIt

Sworkit is a randomised circuit-training app, designed specifically for those who struggle to make time for exercise within a busy working life. The app allows people to completely customise the type of training they do, aiming to provide on-the-go fitness that can offer an effective workout and accommodate any time frame. Users can choose between strength, cardio, yoga or pilates training, which area of the body they want to target, as well as the duration of each session. Additionally, the true beauty of Sworkit could perhaps be that every move requires only body weight, so users don’t need extra equipment and could theoretically work out just about anywhere. Sworkit is a total game changer for anyone looking to fit a good work out into an already busy day.

Nike+ Training Club

Designed specifically for women and completely free on iTunes, this app provides over 85 instructor-narrated fitness routines that offers a personal training experience easily accessible from your phone. You have the option to specify whether you want to get lean, toned, strong or focused, and what level of training you’re at, and then a targeted workout is customised to suit your precise needs. Your iTunes account is easily synced to the app meaning that you can choose your own playlist to seamlessly compliment your workout, and an internet connection is not required, so its versatility remains completely unrestricted. Get inspired with workouts led by Nike pro athletes and designed by Nike Master Trainers, or follow the Sports Feed to share posts with your friends. Most importantly, you’re varying your workout each and every time to be compatible with your time, energy and mood, which is where you’ll see the fastest results.

MyFitnessPal

Diet plays as significant a role in overall fitness as exercise does, and a balancing act of the two is going to achieve the best results. MyFitnessPal has gained widespread
recognition as an accessible and easy-to-use calorie counter app, that documents daily food intake in an online diary and allows members to set goals in their weight loss endeavours. The app features an Exercise Tracker that shows how much an individual would burn during each activity, based on their specific height, weight and gender, and also has a strong community element that consists of a forum where users of the app are free to exchange tips, advice and encouragement. The app is most useful in its instant feedback of caloric intake, directly providing users with information regarding what is healthy for them specifically, playing an instrumental role in weight loss and overall fitness.

Garmin Connect

Tracking, analysis, sharing and encouragement are all made easy with the Garmin Connect app. Syncing seamlessly with your Garmin device, the app can be used for a multitude of fitness needs, from simply giving a new spin to the concept of a pedometer and steps-per-day goals, to professional training plans prescribed by expert running, cycling, and multi-sport coaches. Alongside your workouts, Garmin has sleep-monitoring functions to track what kinds of training habits help or inhibit ideal sleep patterns and recovery, as well heart-rate zone assessments, Garmin community support, Live Track and route maps. Garmin Connect also lets you hook up your account on MyFitnessPal to monitor food intake in conjunction with your running stats, in order to assess how best to adapt your diet to your workout needs. So if you’re one of many Garmin device users, the Garmin Connect app is essential in enhancing your workout experience and making the most of your device.

Fitnet

Fitnet has delivered a revolutionary personal fitness experience to mobile, providing the first ever app to allow certified personal trainers and fitness professionals to create and maintain programmes for their clients from anywhere, without having to actually meet face-to-face. Its unique technological approach converts a mobile camera into a biometric sensor capable of scoring a user while they work out with a human trainer, as well as providing the trainer with access to the clients’ physical activity, workout schedules, goals and scores. Fitnet is the first of its kind in that it doesn’t just focus on typical workout videos, but also caters to a fitness professional’s schedule and facilitates close relationships with the client regardless of location or time-allowance. Be among the thousands of people worldwide who are using Fitnet to realise their fitness goals at their own convenience.